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Lawn Damage

Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Weed Man! This week we will be wrapping up our lawn disease series. If you have run into lawn diseases this is a great resource to help identify and rectify what may be going on in your lawn. This final week, we are going to talk about Red Thread on the Green – unfortunately I’m not talking about baseball. We are going to uncover the details about the lawn disease Red Thread.

Red thread is a disease that shows up in lawns that are cut at a taller height during cooler times of the year such as spring or fall. Although it is not what you want to see in your lawn, it is not life threatening to the grass plant. Red thread will generally only affect the blades of the grass plant – roots and crowns are not infected by the disease which means the plant can eventually overcome the disease. In rare cases, the disease can get out of control or is a very severe case, the plant can die.

This lawn disease will typically develop, as mentioned before, during cooler parts of the year. Usually when temperatures are in the 40-70-degree range, and when there is a higher moisture level present on the lawn. Although rare, healthy lawns can get this disease as well. However, red thread will show up most often on lawns that have been poorly maintained. Red thread, like many other fungal diseases, can be spread on the lawn by foot traffic or lawn equipment.

Small spots will begin to appear on your lawn – they can begin as straw colored, light pink, or reddish patches. They will be about the size of a silver dollar but can grow to be anywhere from 4” to 2’ in diameter. Red Thread is most easily identified in its later stages when you can see red threadlike hairs or strings attached to the grass. There are other lawn diseases that will look similar, such as dollar spot, pink snow mold, or pink patch. Pink patch is probably the most commonly mistaken, as they are similar in color and appearance. However Pink patch looks like the grass has cotton candy on it, vs red thread has pink or read threads on it.

So, what do you do when you discover this strange disease on your lawn? Once discovered in your lawn, there are some easy steps to clear up the disease:

Implement recommended watering habits – deep and infrequently

Keep a high mowing height to promote a healthier root system that can withstand disease better

Reduce the amount of shade by trimming trees and shrubs that contribute to the shady areas

Increase the air circulation by thinning trees and shrubs or making appropriate changes to landscaping to promote air flow in area affected

Provide a light application of fertilizer to help promote recovery

Reduce thatch with core aeration

There are fungicides that can be applied to help recover, however they can be very cost prohibitive to do.

Although there are chemicals that can help control fungus in the lawn, we generally do not recommend it. There is a time and place for use of chemical treatment, but too often homeowners just want a quick fix. Many times, chemical control for fungus treats the symptoms and not the underlying cause. Chemical control can get very expensive as it needs applied consistently and often to work. If you make the necessary changes to your cultural practices it will improve on its own.

If you are seeing red thread, or any other lawn disease in your lawn, and need some help with it, don’t hesitate to call the Weed Man! 208-888-9911 www.weedmanboise.com #wecareforyourlawn

This week at the Wonderful World of Weed Man we will be continuing on our “Your Lawn May Have the Sniffles!” lawn disease series. Last week we talked about powdery mildew. It is common this time of year, so if you are seeing it, check out that article to see how best to treat it. Today, we are going to focus on fighting blight!

As lawn fungus goes, blight can be a catchall term for many variations of leaf blight. We see a few of the variations every year. Particularly Pythium Leaf Blight as well as Ascochyta Leaf Blight. I know, I know, that is a mouthful. For today’s purposes we are going to discuss Ascochyta Leaf Blight. If you are interested in Pythium Leaf Blight, we have a great resource on our website about it.

We tend to see Ascochyta Leaf Blight most often in the beginning of summer when temps spike, or at tail end of the summer when it cools down, but we get a warm spell. The symptoms develop more commonly during hot, droughty periods that were preceded by cool, rainy conditions. As most lawn diseases this leaf blight is just another type of fungi that lives in the soil thatch year-round and develops when conditions are just right for it to thrive.

When the leaf blight shows up on the lawn, it looks very much like your lawn is dying. If you don’t know what to look for you might think that your lawn was ‘burned’ or ‘bleached’. The leaf blade of the grass will turn straw colored very quickly. The overall appearance of the lawn (in the affected areas) will look like its drought stressed or dead.

Leaf blight, in comparison to drought stress or a dying lawn, can appear overnight or within a day or two. Leaf blight, fortunately is not a blight on the crown or root portion of the grass plant. It generally affects only the blade, and does not kill the crown or root of the plant. If you look carefully at the grass blade, it will be straw colored from the tip down, but will be green at the base. Because it is not damaging the crown or root, the lawn will recover on its own.

Conditions that bring on this disease can be the following

Mowing during the heat of the day seems to be one of the factors that cause this disease to become active.

It mainly affects bluegrass and it is usually on lawns that were mowed too short, or too often.

Dull Mower blades will contribute to the severity of the disease. Your lawn mower can even spread the disease around on its wheels or mower blade as it moves up and down your property. – you can see in this picture how mower wheels spread the disease around:

As stated previously this leaf blight will recover on its own within 2-3 weeks. If you want to improve the recovery time, or prevent the issue altogether you can try the following:

Reduce thatch (where fungus spores like to lay in wait) by aerating your lawn regularly. This will allow better water flow deeper into the soil.

It’s a gloomy, yet great day in the Wonderful World of Weed Man. The sky is overcast and threatening to sprinkle rain down upon us! Hopefully it holds out so we can get some work done! Last week we began the main part of our lawn disease series by discussing Necrotic Ring Spot. Continuing on this week, we will delve into the topic of Rust.

Rust? Yes, you can get rust on your lawn. But your lawn is not metal you say. Well, it’s not really rust in the conventional sense. Rust Fungus is a disease that occurs on many types of grasses when their growth is slowed. The actual name of the fungus is Puccinia spp. This typically happens late summer, or early fall. In fact, I noticed some on my lawn as I was mowing it this weekend.

Rust is fairly easy to identify. Rust will cause light yellow spots or flecks on the grass blade. The spots will enlarge over time and create little spores that appear as orange-yellowish powder. It looks very similar to actual rust that you might see on oxidized metal. Hence the name ‘Rust.’ Walking through grass with significant amounts of infection will disturb and release the spores within these pustules and leave a distinct orange color on one’s shoes. These spores, carried by the wind or equipment, spread the disease to other areas during the growing season.

As mentioned before, when the lawn starts to decrease its growth rate, rust can begin to develop on the lawn. Drought, or low water availability will slow down growth. Lack of nitrogen nutrients can do the same thing. If a lawn is over-watered, it can deplete the available nitrogen quicker than if it were to be watered as recommended. Rust is more likely to develop when temperatures are cooler, early morning dew is heavy, and the sky is overcast with clouds creating a low light high humidity environment.

Alternating weather patterns changing in cycles from cool wet weather to hot dry weather can also create suitable conditions for the disease. Rusts survive on living and dead leaf tissue and in the thatch layer of turf grass and/or on alternate hosts (such as barberry or other ornamental plants) when they are not affecting the grass blades. Only when weather conditions become suitable do they begin to cause a concern on the lawn.

Rust is considered a minor disease in turf grass, but I can become severe, or create opportunity for more damaging diseases to start on the lawn. In most cases the spores will only attack the leaf blade causing wilting and thinning of the grass. The rust will interfere with the grass blades ability to photosynthesize. As the grass becomes weakened it is more susceptible to other diseases and/or pests.

So what do you do if you see rust in your lawn? Here are some great practices to help get rid of the rust:

Provide a light application of fertilizer to help promote recovery.

Reduce thatch with core aeration

Reduce shade and improve air circulation

Avoid watering at night

Water deeply and infrequently to increase growth

Mow the lawn frequently to keep it at a moderate height. Also, be sure to rinse off lawn equipment to prevent the spread of disease.

Rust generally does not need a chemical control. Although there are chemicals that can help control fungus in the lawn, we generally do not recommend it. There is a time and place for use of chemical treatment, but too often homeowners just want a quick fix. Many times chemical control for fungus treats the symptoms and not the underlying cause. Chemical control can get very expensive as it needs applied consistently and often to work. If you make the necessary changes to your cultural practices it will improve on its own.

If you are seeing rust in your lawn, and need some help with it, don’t hesitate to call the Weed Man! 208-888-9911 www.weedmanboise.com #wecareforyourlawn

It’s September! Fall has begun to unveil itself, and the crisp cooler temps have come to the Wonderful World of Weed Man. Welcome back! We appreciate you joining us for the next installment of “Your Lawn May Have the Sniffles!” series. We will be discussing the various lawn diseases we find in the Treasure Valley at this time of the year.

We will begin with Necrotic Ring Spot. Walmart has the Halloween gear out already, so it seems appropriate to start with this lawn fungus. It sounds like something you would associate with a zombie. After all, Necrotic Ring Spot is a parasitic form of plant life: fungus. It is fitting. If you see Necrotic Ring Spot on your lawn, the lawn zombie apocalypse has occurred.

Necrotic Ring Spot, or NRS, is a fungus that attacks cool-season grasses, particularly Kentucky bluegrass. The fungus in question is a soil-borne fungus called Ophiosphaerella korrea. That was a mouthful – we will just stick to NRS. NRS is a pathogen that will infect and kill the crowns and roots of the grass. Essentially the disease spreads throughout the lawn in the form of spores. Wind, air, water, and animals (even humans) can spread these spores. The spores, once transferred to the soil may lie dormant for years until the perfect storm of conditions appear for it to thrive.

So what are the ‘perfect storm’ of conditions needed to produce this parasitic lawn disease? I’m glad you asked! NRS can be caused by improper mowing and watering. Because Necrotic Ring Spot is a root disease, it is important to have a healthy and thriving root system for your lawn. When you continually mow below a recommended mowing height your grass roots will become stunted and unhealthy. NRS finds it easier to attack the root system.

Fungi happen to like water as well. At a certain point, if you are watering too much, you stop watering the way the lawn needs watered, and start watering the way a fungus needs watered. Are you using cultural practices that create favorable conditions for your lawn and unfavorable conditions for lawn disease? Or is your lawn seeing the opposite? If you are unsure on recommended practices, you can check out our articles on mowing and watering.

NRS can also be a brought on by compact, high nitrogen soils as well. This is one of the myriad of reasons we choose to use a slow release granular fertilizer, and recommend annual aeration.

Warning: Rabbit Trail! – Slow release granular fertilizers will slowly meter out small amounts of nitrogen over a long period of time. They generally are not real heavy in nitrogen either. Some fertilizer products might be as high as 48% nitrogen, and a quick release fertilizer as well. That is a lot of nitrogen released in a short period of time. Will every lawn treated with a quick release fertilizer with heavy levels of nitrogen all get NRS? No, however, they can be more susceptible to the disease if the other conditions needed are met as well.

During cool, wet weather circular patches of infected turf will develop. Though the disease develops in cool weather, the summer heat and drought stress can make the symptoms much more noticeable. You will start to see the ‘rings’ stand out more and even spread in diameter up to 2-3 ft. The rings start out light green, then turn yellow. Over time, if the underlying causes are not addressed, the disease will progress. The yellowing rings will turn brown or black and leave a sunken bare spot eventually. The interior green area most times is the lawns attempt at recolonizing the infected areas, but sometimes the internal area will die off as well.

It can get pretty gnarly, and not in a good way.

If you happen to get NRS in your lawn, here are some great management practices to try:

First and foremost, fix the underlying cause of the disease, not the symptoms. NRS is only found in moist or wet areas with poor drainage.

Prevent your lawn from becoming droughty. A lawn requires 1 to 11/2 inches (3-4 cm) of water weekly. Traditionally you should water deep and infrequently – but if your soil is very compact, your lawn will not drain very well. According to recent theories a lawn should receive light, frequent watering to control Necrotic Ring. Do this until you can aerate your soil which will improve the drainage. WATER SHOULD NOT BE APPLIED AT NIGHT. Water laying on grass plants overnight encourages disease to spread in the water droplets.

Mow your lawn frequently to a desirable height of 3 to 4 inches with a razor sharp blade. This will help strengthen the root system to help fight off the infection.

When the disease first occurs rings may be dug out with a shovel to rid the soil of the disease spores. Remove the grass and soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm). Wash the shovel before using it again.

Rake the area open; fill in the hole with some potting soil to create a seed bed.

Over-seed the area with a perennial rye grass seed mixture and rake the area lightly. Step on the area lightly to ensure good seed-soil contact. Keep the seed bed moist for at least 21 days.

If the area becomes so infected that removing the rings becomes unreasonable, correct maintenance practices must be used to control the problem.

Use fertilizers with moderate to high amounts of phosphorous and potash

Maintain adequate nitrogen levels using a balanced fertility program

Reduce soil compaction with an aeration

If you think you are having disease issues in your lawn, give us a call!

Promoting a healthy lawn is the key to preventing Necrotic Ring from appearing. Have your Weed Man fertilize your lawn and advise you on correct maintenance practices to ensure a healthy disease free lawn. Fungicides are not an economical form of control. They are regarded only as a temporary control.

Fungicides only control Necrotic Ring until heavy rains wash the fungicide off the grass blade. Fungicide applications would have to be done every 10-14 days all season long and are very expensive. The Weed Man strongly advises against the use of fungicides. Cultural control is superior and more effective, and cheaper!

If you think you are having disease issues in your lawn, give us a call! 208-888-9911 www.weedmanboise.com #wecareforyourlawn

Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Weed Man! As summer is coming to a close, there is still much that can be done to take care of your lawn. One to two more fertilizers can be applied to help restore health and nutrients back to your heat stressed lawn. Fall is literally, (yes, literally in the truest sense of the word) the best time to treat weeds. You can also aerate your lawn as well to help open up the soil to allow air, water, and nutrients to flow better where it is needed most – the root system. As summer winds down, all the lawn problems you have been having will go away…….

That is not entirely true. Fortunately, MOST lawn problems get out of hand in the summer. Unfortunately, as the weather cools down and we begin to enter the autumn season some lawn issues can remain or begin to become a problem. Primarily, lawn disease. Yes, your lawn can get a disease.

Lawn diseases can occur at any time of the year, even in summer. Essentially lawn diseases can be a varying type of fungus. Mushrooms are the most common and least harmful to the health of your lawn. There are many others though, such as necrotic ring spot that are not as pleasant for your lawn. Some even have interesting names such as: fairy ring, pictured below. Each is distinct in its formation; each is unique in its presence on your lawn.

Lawn diseases can occur at any time of the year, even in summer. However, we tend to see more disease during the fall months than any other season of the year. This is the time of year that we seem to spend a lot of time discussing disease prevention with our customers. To provide more information, we wanted to post a series of articles about the most common lawn diseases we encounter.

Throughout this series we will be discussing causes of lawn disease as well as solutions to wipe out the problem. In all reality, there is not one solution for ALL types of lawn fungus. Most of the time a change in watering can help as well as fertilizer. However, some lawn diseases thrive on nitrogen – so more fertilizer in those instances would make the issue worse. As stated earlier, each is unique in its formation – therefore, the solution may not always be as simple as adding more fertilizer, or spraying a fungicide on the lawn.

Since we are less than 1” of annual rainfall away from being classified as a desert we generally wouldn’t see many of these types of fungus grow naturally in our area. A homeowner’s unfamiliarity with proper watering and mowing techniques, or general lawn care, will not cause the disease. However, it can create the exact environment needed for a disease to thrive! Even in a desert climate, the spores of the fungus are present. Stuck in the soil, waiting patiently for the perfect storm of conditions to culminate so it can flourish. Millions of them. Just there. Part of nature. Waiting.

In this series we will begin with the five most common lawn diseases we encounter. We may add to it as time progresses, but to begin with we will start with these five:

It will be too difficult to discuss all common diseases in one posting, so we encourage you to check back each week as we progress through the five most common lawn diseases we encounter. In the meantime, if you are experiencing a lawn issue don’t hesitate to give us a call! www.weedmanboise.com 208-888-9911 #wecareforyourlawn

It is another great week at the Wonderful World of Weed Man! I am happy you could join us. Last week we discussed the Cranberry Girdler. Up to this point, we hope you have enjoyed the, “I Found An Alien In My Lawn!” series. We will be finishing out the series today with information regarding the Sod Web-worm.

This lawn insect just is not very exciting. Many times it goes unnoticed. It doesn’t have a cool or catchy name. It doesn’t come from an exotic land. It lacks superpowers! It is just the boring Sod Web-worm.

The Sod Web-worm is sometimes known as the ‘lawn moth’. As an adult you are more likely to realize they are around as they are a dull brown/grey colored moth with a long snout extending from the head. Generally, the adult moth will not do any damage to your lawn. However, the larvae, that hatch from the eggs they lay will do significant damage to your lawn.

The web-worm will generally have 2 generations each year. The 2nd generation will overwinter as a larva until April the next year. They survive the winter in the soil and thatch in a silken tunnel. It will transform into an adult moth around mid-May or June. They will then hang out in the grass during the day. In the evening they will flit back and forth across the lawn laying eggs. The eggs will hatch in 1-2 weeks and the new generation will start the process over again.

The larvae, as mentioned earlier, will damage the lawn by feasting on grass leaves and stems near the soil surface. They do this at night, and will hide during the day within a silk, webbed, burrow in the thatch layer. Thus the name ‘web-worm’. They do like most types of grasses, including common grasses in our area: Kentucky Bluegrass, Bent grass, and tall/fine Fescues. Although the web-worm is active from spring to fall, most of the significant lawn damage occurs in mid to late summer.

The damage from the web-worms will show as a brown spot the size of a baseball. The grass stems and leaves will have been chewed upon just above the crown. Homeowners often mistake damage from sod web-worm with dog spots. However, the web-worm damage will not turn yellow before turning brown like a dog spot would.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Department of Entomology has some great advice on how to investigate your lawn to see if you have sod web-worm. “An early sign of potential infestation is sod web-worm moths zig-zagging over the turf at dusk. If a sod web-worm infestation is suspected, closely examine the turf for evidence of insect activity. Small patches of grass will be chewed off at ground level. Fresh clippings and green fecal pellets are also usually present. Examine the thatch layer and top inch of soil for larvae, silken tubes and webbing.”

There is also an easy way to visibly see the sod web-worm if you think you have them. A solution can be made from 2 gallons of water and 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Pour the solution of the suspect area. The larvae are irritated by the solution and they will come to the surface of the lawn.

Once you have discovered your web-worms, what do you do about them? Here are some good options on resolving this lawn pest:

Natural Predators – Birds eat web-worms! They can actually reduce the population severely by the time fall rolls around. Nevertheless, birds dive-bombing your lawn may not be the best option for a quick or clean solution.

Biological Control – Insect Parasitic Nematodes will combat web-worms, much like other lawn eating insects. This can be applied via a liquid spray – however it is important to pay attention to application instructions. Nematodes need a very specific environment to be effective. Temperatures too high or too low can influence how effective their performance will be. Water levels in soils are important to be aware of too.

Insecticidal Soap – This is a very temporary natural insecticide. It will irritate and remove the outer layer of the web-worms body, causing it to dehydrate severely and die. You may have to use several treatments of this or buy a large quantity depending on the area you need to treat.

Chemical Control – Most insecticides are safe when applied CORRECTLY. If you are not sure about how to use insecticides safely, please contact a professional for assistance.

There has been a lot of concern about safety when it comes to insecticides. We take safety very seriously when applying treatments on the lawn. Weed Man uses only products for use on home lawns. They are most safely applied in the capable hands of a trained professional like Weed Man. If you have an issue with Sod Web-worms, and would like help, please give us a call! www.weedmanboise.com 208-888-9911 #wecareforyourlawn

Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Weed Man! For those of you who missed last week’s blog, we discussed the Japanese Beetle in our article, ‘Overseas Beetle Invasion!‘ Today, we are continuing our lawn insect series, ‘I Found an Alien in My Lawn!’ with a discussion about Cranberry Girdlers! This is the time of year that we usually begin to see them. We generally do not see a lot of them, they are rare in comparison to other lawn pests. However, they show up just enough to be a nuisance you want to know about. In fact, one of our technicians found this little guy just yesterday:

Repeat after me…..’Cranberry Girdler’ It seems strange to say. It is not a mixed drink, or an appetizer (at least for humans). What is a Cranberry Girdler? Where does it get its funny name? I don’t have cranberries, why are they in my lawn? All legitimate questions.

Cranberry Girdlers are also known as the subterranean web-worm. They are typically a pest of cranberry plants. They like to feast on the plant runners that cranberries spread to obtain water and nutrients. They will remove the bark of the stem and chew on the tissues which will ‘girdle’ the stem. This cuts of the flow of water and nutrients to the plant, which can result in death. It is now obvious how they have acquired their name.

Naming aside, Cranberry Girdlers are not just connoisseurs of the cranberry plant. They also like to feast upon Douglas Fir Trees and many types of cool season grasses as well. Kentucky Bluegrass is a favorite of theirs. Similar to grubs, Adult girdlers will lay several hundred eggs each year in turf grass blades. The larva will feed upon the crown and roots of the grass.

The cranberry girdler will generally only go through one generation per year. Adults emerge, as a moth, in mid-June, and will be active for about 6-8 weeks. The female, after mating, will drop eggs during that time period. Eggs will hatch within 9-11 days and will move down into the upper soil layer of the grass. Once cooler temps in October arrive, the larvae will begin to tunnel deeper into the soil and overwinter until the next year.

The girdler larvae, as they are feeding upon your lawn, will create similar damage to that of the white grub. The lawn will pull up easily since the root system is being digested by the girdler. It will appear from the surface as drought damage or a yellowed area. Typically, most homeowners will realize something isn’t quite right when it does not green up with increased watering.

If you have discovered a Cranberry Girdler in your lawn, it is important to control or eradicate the insect. Otherwise, it can damage your lawn severely when left unchecked. Cranberry Girdlers can be controlled with the following methods:

Natural Predators – Birds eat girdlers! They can actually reduce the population severely by the time fall rolls around. Nevertheless, birds dive-bombing your lawn may not be the best option for a quick or clean solution.

Biological Control – Insect Parasitic Nematodes will combat Cranberry Girdlers. This can be applied via a liquid spray – however it is important to pay attention to application instructions. Nematodes need a very specific environment to be effective. Temperatures too high or too low can influence how effective their performance will be. Water levels in soils are important to be aware of too.

Chemical Control – Most insecticides are safe when applied CORRECTLY. If you are not sure about how to use insecticides safely, please contact a professional for assistance.

There has been a lot of concern about safety when it comes to insecticides. We take safety very seriously when applying treatments on the lawn. Weed Man uses only products for use on home lawns. They are most safely applied in the capable hands of a trained professional like Weed Man. If you have an issue with Cranberry Girdlers, and would like help, please give us a call! www.weedmanboise.com 208-888-9911 #wecareforyourlawn